Bantering Points: 4/25/23

Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

Highlights: NJD 3, NYR 1 (5:00 video via NHL.com)

Game Recap: In what will go down as one of their most listless efforts in recently memory, the Blueshirts once again struggled to generate much on offense and officially squandered what was once a 2-0 series lead into a 2-2 tie (CBS)

Mollie Walker details the Rangers' struggles on a night where being on the ice, let alone making any plays, seemed to be a chore for the team (NY Post)

Neil Best points out how although Akira Schmid was a relative no name entering this playoff series, he's quickly established himself by stifling New York in each of the past two games (Newsday)

Colin Stephenson notes that the trend of the home team failing to defend home ice in the Hudson River rivalry continued once again last night (Newsday)

Vincent Mercogliano offers his takeaways from the Blueshirts' latest defeat (LoHud)

Arthur $taple hear$ that after their poor $howing in Game 4, Gerard Gallant called out hi$ player$ for their performance (The Athletic)

Around the NHL:

Former Rangers' defenseman Justin Braun announced his retirement from the league (NBC Sports)

The Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a 4-1 deficit at the end of two periods to force overtime and win 5-4 to take a 3-1 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning (TSN)

Toronto's victory also set a playoff record of ten consecutive wins for road teams throughout the league (Sportsnet)

Florida Panthers' forward Matthew Tkachuk was fined the maximum of $5,000 for cross checking Garnet Hathaway during his team's Game 4 defeat against the Boston Bruins (ESPN)